A typical example of the flexible display includes a film which is made of a synthetic resin such as polyimide (hereinafter, referred to as “plastic film”), and elements supported by the plastic film, such as TFTs (Thin Film Transistors) and OLEDs (Organic Light Emitting Diodes). The plastic film functions as a flexible substrate. The flexible display is encapsulated with a gas barrier film (encapsulation film) because an organic semiconductor layer which is a constituent of the OLED is likely to deteriorate due to water vapor.
Production of the above-described flexible display is carried out using a glass base on which a plastic film is formed over the upper surface. The glass base functions as a support (carrier) for keeping the shape of the plastic film flat during the production process. Elements such as TFTs and OLEDs, a gas barrier film, and the other constituents are formed on the plastic film, whereby the structure of a flexible OLED device is realized while it is supported by the glass base. Thereafter, the flexible OLED device is delaminated from the glass base and gains flexibility. The entirety of a portion in which elements such as TFTs and OLEDs are arrayed can be referred to as “functional layer region”.
According to the prior art, a sheet-like structure including a plurality of flexible OLED devices is delaminated from a glass base, and thereafter, optical parts and other constituents are mounted to this sheet-like structure. Thereafter, the sheet-like structure is divided into a plurality of flexible devices. This dividing is realized by, for example, laser beam irradiation.
Patent Document No. 1 discloses the method of irradiating the interface between each flexible OLED device and the glass base with laser light (lift-off light) in order to strip each flexible OLED device from the glass base (supporting substrate). According to the method disclosed in Patent Document No. 1, after irradiation with the lift-off light, respective flexible OLED devices are divided from one another, and each of the flexible OLED devices is delaminated from the glass base.